The
Political Power of TV Broadcasters:
Covert Bias and Anticipated Reactions
James H. Snider and Benjamin
I. Page
Abstract
Democratic theory suggests that media should act in the interests
of ordinary citizens. If a highly influential segment of the media
presents information in a way that systematically favors its interests
over other interests, democracy may be weakened. Media organizations,
reacting to concern about such "bias," often insist that they follow
a "norm of objectivity," separating their business interests from
their news operations. Media scholars tend to confirm that such
a norm of objectivity pervades newsrooms. On February 1, 1996, Congress
passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996, one provision of which
gave existing TV broadcasters free usage of spectrum valued at between
$11 billion and $70 billion. Opponents called this a "giveaway"
and one of the largest "corporate welfare" programs in United States
history. In the months preceding and following passage of the act,
TV broadcasters actively lobbied against their opponents. The research
here suggests that the separation of "church and state" was crossed;
media owners used their control of the airwaves to enhance their
efforts at lobbying elected officials. The research also suggests
that media scholars may have tended to conceptualize the mechanisms
of media bias too narrowly. More emphasis should be placed on "covert
bias" and "anticipated reactions."
James H. Snider, Department of Political Science,
Northwestern University Benjamin I. Page, Department of Political Science, Northwestern
University
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